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Search Lichfield Wills Database (1516-1652)

This database comprises a transcription jointly by Paul Jones and Rosemary Lockie of Phillimore's Calendar of Wills & Administrations in the Consistory Court of Lichfield, 1516-1652; plus a handful of Peculiar Courts, 1529-1790.  

The Lichfield Diocese for this period included the pre-1974 counties of Derbyshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire and Warwickshire; and prior to 1541, the diocese of Chester. A more comprehensive explanation of coverage is provided in the Preface to this publication.

Note: the resource you will be searching is an INDEX, containing the surname, and year of proving the Will, and when available, first name, and place of residence of the testator. Copies of the original documents to which the index relates, should be requested direct from the Staffordshire Record Office (if they survive - some wills may have been 'lost'). As you will find if you visit the site, images of Wills proved in the Consistory Court of Lichfield, c.1520-1858 are also available at Findmypast. Wills proved under Peculiar Jurisdictions are understood (as of 26 May 2018) to be available soon.

Surname: County:  
 
First Name:  
 
Date range: + / - 
  (NB: 1516-1652 only)
  
Options:  Soundex matching on Surname Place:  
 Exact match on First Name  NB: less than 25% of entries in the Main Series have a place of residence associated with them.
Peculiar Courts:  However almost all Peculiar Court entries include a place.
Sort by    Display    results per page Note: Overall the database contains 56,790 entries, comprising 55,975 entries in the original Calendar, plus additional entries for recording spelling variants, and aliases.

The data you will be searching is a transcription of the Calendar entries from the following out-of-copyright publication:

Calendars of Wills & Administrations in the Consistory Court of the Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, 1516-1652 Also those in the "Peculiars" now deposited in the Probate Registries at Lichfield (1529-1652), Birmingham (1675-1790) and Derby (1753-1790). Edited by W. P. W. Phillimore, M.A., B.C.L., Queen's College, Oxford, 1892.

Entries provide surname, first (christian) name, date (year) of probate, and for a small proportion of entries only, the testator's place of residence. Please read our transcription of the Preface to this publication for a more comprehensive explanation of its contents.

Conditions of Use: This transcribed data is free for anyone to use for private research, providing no profit is derived from its use. However its presentation on this site is our copyright, so please do NOT copy results of searches, or our transcription of the preface, to enhance your own website.

Disclaimer: Whilst we have taken every care to reproduce the source material correctly, we disclaim any warranty or representation, express or implied about its accuracy, completeness or appropriateness for a particular purpose. Thus, you assume full responsibility for use of the results of any search you undertake, and you understand and agree that the developers and contributors to this site shall not be responsible or liable for any claim, loss or damage resulting from the same.

If you do not agree with our Conditions and Disclaimer, please do not use this resource.
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